Machine to Machine M2M refers to all technologies and means for establishing connections between machines. The concept of the M2M has appeared in the 1990s, but only in a theory stage. After the year of 2000, along with development of a mobile communication technology, it is impossible to implement networking of machine equipment by virtue of the mobile communication technology. An M2M service appeared on the market in the year of about 2002, and was rapidly developed into a focus of attention of many communication equipment suppliers and telecommunication operating companies in subsequent several years. At present, the number of machines throughout the world is far larger than the number of people, so it may be foreseen that the M2M technology has a broad market prospect.
Researches on M2M communication application scenarios show that providing M2M communication on a mobile network has a potential market prospect. However, the M2M service makes many new requirements on a system, and in order to enhance competitiveness of the mobile network on this aspect, it is necessary to optimize the existing mobile network to support M2M communication more effectively.
A related mobile communication network is mainly designed for Human to Human H2H communication, but is not optimized enough for M2M and man-to-machine communication. In addition, how an operating company provides an M2M communication service with low cost is also a key of successful deployment of M2M communication.
Based on the abovementioned conditions, it is necessary to research a solution in which the mobile network supports the M2M communication, and the solution is required to maximally reuse an existing network and reduce influence of massive M2M communication on the network and complexity in operation and maintenance.
At present, competition at the telecommunication market becomes increasingly fierce, and charges are continuously reduced, and a profit space of the operating companies is continuously narrowed, and the man-based communication market is becoming increasingly saturated, so the M2M is a new development opportunity for the operating companies.
In order to effectively utilize a mobile network resource, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP puts forward an MTC, i.e. a service of M2M and machine-to-man communication, whose service range far exceeds that of conventional H2H communication, and MTC is greatly different from an H2H communication mode in terms of access control, charging, security, Quality of Service QoS and a service mode and the like.
In a 3GPP Evolved Packet System EPS architecture, an EPS includes a Radio Access Network RAN (such as a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network UTRAN, an Evolved UTRAN E-UTRAN and a Global System for Mobile Communications/Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (referred as GSM/EDGE) RAN) and a core network. For example, an Evolved Packet Core EPC includes network elements such as a Mobility Management Entity MME, a Serving Gateway, a Packet Data Network PDN Gateway PGW, etc., and a General Packet Radio Service GPRS core network includes network elements such as a Serving GPRS Supporting Node SGSN etc.; and the E-UTRAN includes an Evolved Node B eNB.
MTC device triggering is one of basic requirements on an MTC system, and a problem concerned by the requirement is that: a manner that an MTC server initiates a polling may be adopted for communication to control communication of an MTC device, and the MTC server is also required to poll data from the MTC device sometimes for communication initiated by the MTC device. If the MTC server fails in query or an Internet Protocol IP address of the MTC device is unavailable, the MTC server may establish communication with the MTC device by MTC device triggering. If the MTC device may not be triggered by a network, the network reports to the MTC server that the MTC device is failed to be triggered, and MTC device triggering is implemented through signaling of the control plane in 3GPP.
MTC device triggering includes Mobile Oriented MO and Mobile Terminating MT services, namely, the MTC device triggering includes information sending or receiving by the MTC device.
In order to implement effective transmission of an MTC device triggering request, a proposed solution includes that: MTC device triggering information is sent through a T4 interface, or the MTC device triggering information is sent through a signaling of a control plane via a T5 interface, or the MTC device triggering information is sent through a Gi/SGi interface on a user plane. For the manner of sending the MTC device triggering information through the signaling of the control plane, the MTC server sends the signaling of the control plane including the MTC device triggering information to a network node, and the network node analytically processes the MTC device triggering information in the signaling of the control plane, and then sends the MTC device triggering information to User Equipment UE. An MTC architecture in 3GPP is shown in FIG. 1. On the user plane, an MTC application device connected with an MTC user communicates with an MTC server through an Application Programming Interface API, or directly communicates with a Gateway GPRS Support Node/PGW/Evolved Packet Data Gateway, GGSN/PGW/EPDG in a 3GPP network through the Gi/SGi interface, and the MTC server communicates with the GGSN/PGW/EPDG through an MTCi interface, and the GGSN/PGW/EPDG communicates with UE through an RAN. On the control plane, the MTC server sends the signaling of the control plane including MTC device triggering information to an MTC InterWorking Function MTC-IWF through an MTCsp interface or sends the signaling of the control plane including the MTC device triggering information to a Short Message Service-Service Center/IP-Short-Message-Gateway, SMS-SC/IP-SM-GW, through an MTCsms interface, and the MTC-IWF or the SMS-SC/IP-SM-GW sends the signaling of the control plane to an MME/SGSN or a Gateway Mobile-services Switching Center (MSC) for Short Message Service SMS-GMSC or an SMS router or an MSC or a Visitor Location Register VLR, and further sends it to the UE through the RAN, herein the MME/SGSN may also obtain the signaling of the control plane from a Home Subscriber Server HSS or a Home Location Register HLR through a Gr/S6a/S6d interface.
An MTC device grouping requirement is made in 3GPP TS22.368, for example, an MTC server is intended to collect state information of multiple MTC devices, including that: a system associates an MTC device with a single MTC group; each group-based MTC function is applicable to each member in the MTC group; and an Identifier of the MTC group in the 3GPP network is unique.
A Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service MBMS is a technology of sending data from one data source to multiple targets, implements sharing of a network (including core network and access network) resource, and improves a utilization rate of the network resource (particularly an air interface resource). An MBMS in 3GPP Rel-10 adopts a Multicast Control Channel MCCH change notification (called MCCH notification hereinafter) mechanism, that is, a change of the MCCH is indicated on a Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCCH by virtue of a specified MBMS-Radio Network Temporary Identifier M-RNTI and Downlink Control Information DCI, and the change here is only for a session start or counting request event, that is, a network side will send an MCCH notification message only when the session start or counting request event happens. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system frame of an MBMS.
Each piece of triggering information of the MTC device group has a valid time, that is, the group triggering information is valid within the valid time, and when the time is exceeded, the group triggering information is discarded. There is yet no solution if a server (a group triggering information sending end) is required to update the group triggering information within the valid time.